


i'll be the spice to your sugar

by wflhsd



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, No angst zone, OT3, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, abs mention, bakery au kind of, daehwi and haknyeon are mentioned, god i love this ot3 so much, jihoon's a donut expert, jisung exists for like one scene, you pig baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 17:17:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12635571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wflhsd/pseuds/wflhsd
Summary: jihoon sees a flowerboy at the bakery, and he's not sure whether he loves or hates his taste tester.





	i'll be the spice to your sugar

**Author's Note:**

> I LOVE THIS OT3 SM
> 
> a big thanks to roe for being my beta reader ur the bestest!!!

 

 

 

1\. You might be a master of donut glazing, but will someone remind Jisung that you can do cakes too, thanks

 

Jihoon preps the display racks for the bakery opening, using one hand to slice a blueberry cheesecake into eighths. Of course, _two hands_ mean _two jobs_ , so as he’s cutting the cake with one hand, he uses his other to hold a sad plastic spork and carefully pieces away a bit of the cheesecake.

 

“Ow!”

 

Jisung karate chops him on the back of the head, and he almost drops the spork. “Stop eating the merchandise, you little punk. No cakes for snakes here.”

 

Jihoon lays down the knife and rubs at his head with his hand, all while shoving more cheesecake into his mouth. He gracefully dodges Jisung’s next attack. “Wow, excuse me, I could have just died? I was holding a knife?” Jihoon pauses, sending an incredulous look over at Jisung. “It could’ve landed on my foot and I could have bled to death. Creating an unsafe workplace environment much.”

 

“The only thing making this workplace unsafe is you. When Manager Lee finds out you eat half the cakes that are supposed to be put up on the display—,“

 

“She loves me though,” Jihoon points out.

 

Jisung _tsks_ at him. “I see you haven’t faced her wrath from when she finds out about your betrayal, young one.” He shakes his head, face painted with fake pain and even faker disappointment. “Anyways, opening’s in five and we have some other stuff for you back here, so hurry up would you, donut boy?”

 

Donut boy.

 

 _Wow_.

 

Jihoon got into this job anyway because of his supreme donut glazing skills (and also _maybe_ since his mom’s best friend’s friend’s sister’s relative or something knew the manager of the bakery), but he’d like to think that he’s at least a _little_ above being just ‘donut boy’ by this point. He pouts.

 

“Excuse me, I frost donuts _and cakes_ now.”

 

“Yes, you do. Which is why I need you to stop eating the merchandise,” Jisung sighs. “We have a few six-inch cakes for the front that still need glazing, but we have some big orders to do. Do you mind catching them for us?”

Jisung turns to the kitchen. “Anyways I gotta go, sugar glaze. Head baker is calling.” Jihoon swears that Jisung’s nicknames for him keep getting worse as the days go by. 

Jihoon still finishes eating the cake first, but he rushes to finally get to poke around the kitchen again.

 

 

 

 

 

2\. A flower boy rings at (technically not) your door

 

Jihoon barely gets through finishing three cakes at the back when their first customer arrives. There is a chime as the little silver bell ( _fake_ silver, Jihoon has eyes, he can see that rust coming through) at the front rings.

 

A flower boy comes through, and he looks positively adorable. Maybe a little too adorable? That’s Jihoon’s lane, and Jihoon would definitely feel threatened if he wasn’t so shook. But not as shook as the customer seems to be, breathing like he’d just run a marathon through a field of grass. Also–

 

“Hey, you have some flowers stuck in your hair,” Jihoon points out, pointing at the pink petals littered on the boy’s head, but mostly at the yellow tulip tucked behind his ear. “Just so you know.”

 

“What? Oh, sorry. I completely forgot about this.” The boy flusters. “I was sitting by the trees in my garden.” He ruffles his hair. Jihoon wonders what kind of tree would get a tulip in such a place, but okay.

 

“These cakes are really pretty. What flavors are these?” The boy asks. “Do you have recommendations?”

 

Jihoon looks at the freshly glazed masterpieces on the side fridge. Well, maybe they’re not _masterpieces_ , but since it’s Daehwi who baked them and Jihoon who finished them, they might as well be called that. Jihoon still has to come up with a way to poach him off the team if he decides to start his own business.

 

He stands in front of the glass display, eyes sparkling as his gaze washes over the mini cakes. Jihoon gets a bubbling sense of accomplishment while watching the customer’s admiration. Those cakes are his pride and joy.

 

This will be an easy sell. Jihoon could even say it’ll be a _piece of cake_.

  
  
  
  


Jihoon watches the boy ( _Hyungseob_ , he now knows) exit the store, two too many cakes in hand and out an extra forty dollars that he probably didn’t need to spend. His hair is met by the wind when the door opens. The flower petals caught in his hair fly off and flutter to the ground. Jihoon knows he’ll have to sweep that up later, but, wow, if it doesn’t look ethereal.

  
  


 

3\. You manage to bake your way into Woojin’s heart but it backfires on you anyways since he’s so fucking shameless seriously Woojin what’s wrong with you

 

“Woojin, I scammed a flower boy out of forty dollars today. Is it appropriate to feel guilty for this?” Jihoon asks right as the front door swings open.

 

“What?” Woojin asks, having just come back from the gym or something. Sometimes Jihoon is jealous of his firm discipline and even firmer abs, but then Jihoon realizes that he loves his desserts and earning money _just_ a little bit more. “Oh, hey, you’re making something. What’s the theme this weekend?”

 

“Guilt and deceit.” Jihoon nods, slicing an eighth of the cake and putting it on the lone clean plate they have in the kitchen. He and Haknyeon really should start picking up the slack. Woojin cleaned basically four full stacks of plates just last week all by himself.

 

“Sounds unpleasant.” Woojin dumps his stuff on the couch.

 

“It’s basically pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger,” Jihoon adds, opening a drawer and taking a spoon from the stack they’d stolen from the dining hall way back. He uses the spoon to take a gob of extra frosting and smears it onto the side of the slice before picking up a chunk of the cake with it.

 

Woojin stops and starts walking towards Jihoon. “Why didn’t you say so. I so happen to love guilt and deceit.”

 

“Fucking shameless,” Jihoon shakes his head. “I poached this recipe from your uncle’s business, Woojin. Have some self-respect.”

 

“Not my fault he refuses to tell me the recipe whenever I ask him. B’sides, I can’t bake anyway.” Jihoon inserts the spoonful into Woojin’s mouth when he approaches the counter.

 

“Can you wash the dishes for the next two weeks.” Jihoon gets straight to the point.

 

“I loaf you,” Woojin manages to mumble in between Jihoon stuffing his face with cake.

 

“Thanks. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t return your affection.”

 

Woojin has the decency to look legitimately affronted for a split second. Jihoon grins.

 

Woojin somehow manages to gather enough pride to stop allowing Jihoon to spoon-feed him his greatest weakness for a whole five seconds.

 

“I said I _loathe_ you.” Woojin wipes the crumbs off of his face. “No. I literally washed all of our plates last week. How the heck did you two even go through all of them already?” He stares at the spoon Jihoon is holding in front of his face. Jihoon can _see_ his willpower breaking down.

 

“I’m making a new flavor,” Jihoon explains. “Also, you might have to do some scouting for me. But the benefits include getting to be my taste tester.”

 

Jihoon flutters his eyes coyly at Woojin. Woojin just rolls his eyes and lets Jihoon feed him another piece of cake.

 

“I’m already your taste tester,” Woojin points out, licking frosting off of his lips.

 

Jihoon pauses. “-And you get to request something.”

 

“ _Two_ things.” Jihoon should really stop teaching Woojin how to negotiate.

 

“Fine,” Jihoon pouts. “But nothing too fancy.”

 

Woojin moves the cake on the counter closer to himself to cut another slice and Jihoon knows he’s sealed the deal.

  
  
  
  


 

4\. Making deals with Woojin actually means making deals with future Woojin so make sure to make the deal with him a month in advance next time

 

Except, how can Jihoon even make anything when everything is broken?

 

Jihoon pops his head out from under the sink and delightfully chokes on the noxious fumes. Apparently, making a deal with Woojin means that he’s actually making a deal with three-weeks-from-now Woojin. The dishes have continued to pile up since their Very Big Deal of Recakenaissance and there’s literally no more room in the sink to stuff things into.

 

Jihoon’s been eating using his re-rinsed giant blue coffee mug and sporks from work for the past two weeks. They’re surprisingly versatile as serving utensils. As for Haknyeon, Jihoon’s pretty sure he’s been using the stack of disposable paper plates they have above the microwave. At this point, Jihoon has a feeling he’s seriously considering just eating off of his hands.

 

All of the (still unwashed) dishes are in the sink right now. Despite what the Very Big Deal of Recakenaissance might suggest, fate seems to be against their washing. Jihoon’s literally never seen Haknyeon wash anything other than maybe a fork, _once_ , in the three year span he’s lived with him. Plus Woojin’s disappeared off to God knows where for most of this past week. The dishes fall to him.

 

Jihoon turns on the garbage disposal to vacuum the stagnant water out of the sink. But instead of working its vacuum magic, the damn thing _klinks_ and proceeds to regurgitate the minced food slime both back up onto the dishes and under the sink, onto all of their cleaning supplies.

 

Amongst the three of them, nobody has the money to call a plumber up here and if Jihoon called the landlord about it instead, they probably wouldn’t receive any help until Christmas. So again-

 

It rests on him.

 

Jihoon sighs.

  


 

The first sign that makes Jihoon realize he shouldn’t even rest on _himself_ is when his stomach protests every time he moves. Probably because he’s been trying to fix this stupid thing for a few hours already and all he wants is food and a nap. On top of doing the dishes, it’s also currently Woojin’s turn to steal egregious amounts of food through the travel cups from the dining hall. But how can he even drop off food for the house when he’s been suspiciously MIA all week? Jihoon finished their last mac and cheese box this morning.

 

Jihoon shuts the door to the house after leaving a neon yellow sticky note saying “ok _my bad ill fix it but im out to get food rn woojin i swear to god if you dont get more food ill cook you myself thanks_ ” on the counter.

 

Drawing the passive aggressive smiley face at the end was the most satisfying feeling.

  
  
  
  


5\. You meet the flower boy at the hot bar

 

It’s just Jihoon’s luck that he runs into flower boy _today_ of all days. Jihoon wants to cry.

 

Flower boy waves at him and then proceeds to _make a beeline straight for him_ when he notices Jihoon at the grocery store hot bar. Jihoon was wearing a _white_ shirt today of all days. He still wants to cry.

 

“Hi, Jihoon!”

 

Hyungseob looks exceptionally polished on a Saturday for some reason. Jihoon, on the other hand, looks, smells _and_ feels like hot garbage today, which is an exceptional combo because he’s usually only able to check off two of those boxes on any given day.

 

“Hi, Hyungseob!” Jihoon says with fake cheer as he desperately tries to shield away the garbage disposal vomit on his shirt using the back of his hand, the hot bar box, and the five boxes of mac and cheese he impulse picked up. It goes about as well as Jihoon’s day. Jihoon elects to save the hot bar box as three of the five mac and cheese boxes fall to the ground.

 

“Do you need some help,” Hyungseob politely asks, but Jihoon can see him trying to control his smile.

 

“Yes please.” There’s a time and place for giving up, and Jihoon has concluded that _that_ time is now. Jihoon places all of the things in his arms on the hot bar shelf.

 

“Do you want to just split my cart?” Hyungseob offers, not bothering to hide his laughter this time. Even his laughter is soft. It tickles at Jihoon’s chest. Hyungseob points at the half-empty cart. “I’m almost done.”

 

Now would be a good time to make a move, so Jihoon musters up the remnants of his negative game. Here goes. _Thank you._ “Thank you.” _My kind savior_. “My kind sa... vior.”

 

Wow, that second part was completely not supposed to slip out. Jihoon can feel the tips of his ears heat up, which Haknyeon had once informed him means that his face is about as red as a tomato. Jihoon might as well just go all out, to be honest. There’s no turning back at this point.  

 

“I’d like to ask you out to some food as thanks, but I’m kind of covered in garbage disposal vomit right now, as you can see.” Jihoon gestures to his shirt. He coughs. “And you look busy. Are you going somewhere?”

 

“Is this a genuine question…?” Hyungseob asks and the way he asks is so _unsure_ Jihoon wants to cry.

 

Of course it is. Hyungseob is the best ever.  Jihoon places his items onto the top of the cart. “Yes?”

 

“Oh, okay.” Hyungseob puffs his cheeks. “I’m just meeting a friend out front afterwards, but are you free next week?” he asks. “I’ll give you my number.”

 

 _Hyungseob’s number_. “Okay.” Jihoon’s mind is blank. He is devoid of words. He stands there like a fish. He even _smells_ like fish.

 

Hyungseob’s breath hums in excitement.

 

  
  
  
  


_A friend_ turns out to be _Woojin_ , standing out front of the entrance, leaning against the lamppost in all his tight black shirt and stylishly ripped jeans glory. He looks up from his phone at the approaching two and Jihoon watches it play in slow motion and he looks so _put together_ , what the fuck.

 

Woojin never looks this put together when he meets up with Jihoon, or basically anyone else, ever. On the one day that Jihoon looks like the epitome of ‘yesterday night’s bad decisions’. This is so unfair. Jihoon almost feels offended.

 

“‘Sup.”

 

This dumbass has the gall to smirk at him. _Smirk at him_. His snaggletooth shines in the sun, and Jihoon has to resist the urge to aggressively shake his shoulders. This is the longest internal scream of Jihoon’s life. 

 

“I feel played,” Jihoon says.

 

“Cool. Like a fiddle or something fancier?”

 

“Do you two know each other?” Hyungseob asks.

 

“This-” Woojin sidles up to Jihoon’s side, and _ew_ , slings an arm across Jihoon’s shoulder, “Is my dearest _best friend_ and housemate Jihoon.” Woojin ruffles his hair. “Isn’t he cute?”

 

“I want to die.” Jihoon says. There goes the last drop of self control Jihoon has. Jihoon tries to shake Woojin’s arm off his shoulder. He just hugs him tighter instead. Lucky for Jihoon he’s protected by the stain on his shirt, ha.

 

“What is _that_ , that’s sticky-” Woojin winces, arm flinching away from Jihoon. Jihoon cackles on the inside.

 

He deadpans. “Garbage disposal projectile vomit. You know. From the sink. That still has dishes in it. Wonder why. I guess we won’t need it if we don’t have food though.” Jihoon taps his chin for special effect. The complaint list slowly registers onto Woojin’s expression, which Jihoon would find hilarious if it wasn’t all valid. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to hammer it in. “Any suggestions?”

 

Seriously Woojin, what the fuck. No food? Unacceptable. He can let the dishes slide, but no _food_ is a no-go. To be fair though, the dish situation is why he’s even here in the first place.

 

Hyungseob watches the two in amusement.

 

Woojin bolts back to Hyungseob’s side, but not before he takes the solid opportunity to lean into Jihoon’s ear and seductively whisper “ _this isn’t a date, by the way._ ” Jihoon can feel the sheer _heh_ in his tone.

 

Jihoon feels attacked. Firstly, it tickles, and secondly, the tips of Jihoon’s ears go back to being on fire. There’s also the added issue of Woojin _seductively whispering_ into his ear, which is an experience he would rather never have again.

 

“What, that’s _not_ what I was thinking—” Jihoon sputters.  It’s at this point he realizes he’s made a grave mistake and Woojin has _way_ too much dirt on him. Woojin and too much power? Jihoon’s never heard of a more terrible idea. Jihoon wants to reconsider his life up to this point. Where did he go wrong? _Why_ did he go wrong.

 

“Enjoy your blue cheese wings, Jihoon!” Woojin tugs on Hyungseob’s arm and pulls him away. “Okay, we’re going now, bye.”

 

How does Woojin even know Jihoon’s top secret favorite fried chicken flavor? This, on top of how ‘ _not on a date_ ’ the other two look, which is basically _not at all_ , throws a scrambled 500-piece puzzle set at Jihoon’s brain. Why hasn’t Woojin mentioned Hyungseob at all if they were such good friends? Jihoon’s not even sure what the weird eye contact between Woojin and Hyungseob really means.

 

“Text me!” Hyungseob yells at Jihoon when Woojin drags him off.  
  
  


 

 

 

 

Halfway through his box of wings, criminally over-salted just how he likes it, he gets a series of messages from Woojin.

 

_u move fast I wasn’t even done scouting for u damn_

_hyungseob’s actly real cute u two would look grt_

_hes my close friend actually though so like_

_don’t fuck this up or im gonna fite u_

_good luck vomitboy_

 

Scouting.

 

Woojin.

 

Jihoon sends him a series of poop emojis in response.

 

  


6\. Everybody loves your donuts but Hyungseob has the worst taste ever so you’re not sure you can even be friends

  

Jihoon blinks at Hyungseob as Hyungseob munches on a lemon-blueberry donut, finished with vanilla glaze and topped with poppy seeds. White chunks of broken-off icing stick to his lips and a little gets on his cheek. He licks it off right away, which is really fascinating to watch, because Hyungseob's already gone through, like, what? Three? In the five minutes since Jihoon's opened the box.

 

"Is it really that good," Jihoon asks, because there's no way Hyungseob's not exaggerating. Lemon-blueberry might be Jihoon’s favorite flavor, but he can't even eat it that fast on an ‘I’m starving and I haven't eaten since this morning’ basis. Jihoon might have a huge ego, but even he can admit he's not on _that_ level yet. He's getting there though.

 

"Thish ish sho good," Hyungseob says. He swallows and immediately takes another bite. Jihoon stares at his donut. Hyungseob's eyes glaze over in a dreamy look. "You know what would taste good with this? Margarine."

 

The smell of lemon wafts to Jihoon’s face. Jihoon kind of wants to eat it, to be honest. "Isn't that bad for you?" Jihoon asks.

 

Hyungseob's eating slows to a crawl. He probably only has a quarter of the donut left in his hand.

 

"Jihoon?"

 

"Yes?" Jihoon breaks his staring contest with the leftover donut piece.

 

"You've just watched me eat three donuts in a row. I don’t mind that much."

 

"Maybe you cap it at four donuts? You could secretly be one of those health buffs, for all I know." Jihoon shrugs. There’s only one donut left in the box. Hyungseob’s definitely about to reach for it. Jihoon’s fingers itch.

 

"I mean, they’re not good for you, but they taste good and I’ll die anyway, so it's okay," Hyungseob says, finishing the piece. "I really like smooth and creamy things."

 

Jihoon almost points out that the donuts Hyungseob just ate aren’t actually smooth nor creamy whatsoever, but he digresses. He adds ‘desserts’ and ‘be smooth and creamy’ to his folder of things Hyungseob likes.

 

A sharp clap resounds in the air.

 

Jihoon can’t believe the first time he gets to hold Hyungseob’s hand is when Jihoon’s trying to steal a donut away from him. Hyungseob looks at him confusedly.

 

He gently guides Hyungseob’s hand away from the box. “I…” Jihoon makes vague hand gestures with his free hand. “Can I have one,” Jihoon explains. “It’s my favorite flavor. Please?”

 

Hyungseob’s expression _clicks_ and he pulls back, gripping his mug of hot chocolate. "Oh. Sorry, Jihoonie!" _Jihoonie_? They're at pet names already? Jihoon is making Progress, with a capital P.

 

Hyungseob gushes. "Every single one of your donuts have been good so far. Especially the ones from last week. I didn’t get to eat the pumpkin ones, though, since Woojin stole those from me? It was kind of funny to watch. I didn’t know you were the ones who made them at first."

 

Jihoon stills. The ones from last-

 

"Those were _samples_ ", Jihoon gasps disbelievingly. "Those weren’t ready to-" _win you over_ _yet_.

 

“Th-the _market_. They’re not ready to hit the market yet." Jihoon repeats. He’s slowly getting better at this ‘not immediately saying the stupid shit that pops into his head’ business. Thank god. Woojin would be disappointed, which makes Jihoon even more proud.

 

"But they were good though." Hyungseob pouts. "My favorite was the mint chocolate and coconut one."

 

Mint chocolate-

 

If Jihoon’s life was an action movie, this would be the part where he’s one of the villain’s useless lackeys and Hyungseob is the main character who does a cool headshot while Jihoon falls onto the floor dramatically.

 

For the second time in his life, Jihoon is having a crisis (the first was when he was five and he could have sworn he saw a girl come out of their tv). Mint chocolate is the one bane of his existence, second only to his poor taste in friends. Why did he even bake that combo in the first place? Jihoon still can't believe he made it himself, and he definitely can't believe he made it _voluntarily_.

 

But alas. Hyungseob’s eyes sparkle at him in admiration and Jihoon is very, _very_ weak to sparkles. He gulps down all that’s left of his caramel coffee in resignation. Mint chocolate it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7\. Your friends have too much lift game and it makes you want to become one with nature, also known as the ground

 

Hyungseob's garden is huge. The blueberry bushes in the back are in peak blueberry-ness.

 

Jihoon pulls weeds while Hyungseob gathers the blueberries and Woojin sets up some plots on the side. The three of them work in the blaring sun.

 

" _Wake me up_."

 

" _WAKE ME UP INSIDE_ -"

 

The background music’s pretty top-notch, Jihoon thinks, Woojin trying to aggressively rap alongside Jihoon’s extremely half-assed and Hyungseob’s slightly off-key singing. Does it sound good? No, but Jihoon’s having a good time, and their performance is definitely a solid A+ for team effort.

 

Weeding still sucks the life out of him though.

 

"Please remove yourself." Jihoon says, staring at the rigid stem on the ground as he tries to pry it out. The stupid stem sticking out of the ground refuses to budge, so he grips it with both hands and tries to pull it up. Still nothing. He stands up and tries to stare into the distance to express his distress. The sun blinds him instead.

 

Woojin stops threading flowers into Hyungseob’s hair and comes over to put his chin on Jihoon’s shoulder."Why are you talking to the plants." 

 

“This plant has more will to live than I do,” Jihoon says in resignation. He’s been bested by a _weed_.

 

“Wait, those? Oh, they’re obnoxious. Let me,” Hyungseob interrupts the two of them. Four gallons of blueberries hang on his arms. Woojin detaches himself from his newly-found chin rest to make room, hugging the full bucket of soil he’s carrying while he watches. Hyungseob twists and pulls the plant out pretty effortlessly.

 

Jihoon can’t decide whether to look at the plant Hyungseob’s holding or Woojin’s bucket of soil. How do these two people even exist?  Jihoon can barely even lift two gallons of blueberries at once? Is Jihoon’s lift game just pathetically weak? Does Jihoon even lift at all?

 

These are all questions Jihoon considers when he’s standing in the middle of the plot, feeling completely out of place. Jihoon wants to let the wind blow hard enough for him to fall over onto the ground so he can bask in the sunlight. Unfortunately, there isn’t any actual wind and the sun is too bright to comfortably bask in, so Jihoon is left to stand and swelter in the heat instead.

 

“It’s okay,” Woojin says, “mental support.” Jihoon is withering on the inside, just like the random grasses he successfully removed earlier. They’re all tossed onto a blue tarp in the middle of the garden. Jihoon throws his hands up, walks over to the center of the pile, and lies down with the weeds, where he truly belongs.

 

"I'm too weak for this," Jihoon moans, rolling to his side. The grasses scratch his cheek. If the other two are tough like actual pumpkins, Jihoon is the puree you buy pre-canned at the store. Jihoon's pretty sure he's never been this bad at anything before.

 

"It's okay. It's all in the technique, Jihoonie. If you pick it up, it'll be no problem.” Hyungseob moves over to sit beside him and pats his head reassuringly. “If you want, we can have a lemonade break in five minutes."

 

Yes _please_ , Jihoon desperately wants some hydration right now. Hyungseob continues to be the best ever. Jihoon hooks his arms around Hyungseob and hugs him, which is a pretty awkward angle, but it feels nice, so whatever.

 

Jihoon’s only forced to let go when Hyungseob gets up to smack Woojin with the stem for winking too much. Woojin unsuccessfully defends himself, only managing to end the onslaught when he slings Hyungseob over his shoulder. There’s a certain fondness in the way he laughs at Hyungseob’s protests.

  
Being like this with both of them is the absolute best.

 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
8\. All’s  . . . - - - . . .  that ends  . . . - - - . . .  and Woojin is definitely part of the problem

  
It’s one of those weekends where it’s too hot outside for any sane human being to function, so they spend it indoors with the blissful AC in Hyungseob’s apartment. Jihoon and Hyungseob are splayed out on the couch while Woojin sits at the dining table and frantically types on his laptop.

 

"Jihoon," Hyungseob whispers.

 

"What," Jihoon whispers back. "Why are we whispering?"

 

"I have a question.” Hyungseob whispers even more quietly. “How would you feel if- "

 

Is this…

 

Hyungseob's voice drops even more. "-if we pulled Woojin into our shenanigans."

 

Jihoon's heart pounds.

 

Actually, no, he just feels like he's about to have a heart attack. Jihoon gasps and sits up to clutch at his chest. Woojin looks over from where he's typing on his laptop, earphones in. This is one of the few times where Jihoon wishes Woojin wasn’t so easily distracted from his work.

 

Or maybe he’s just attentive to other things.

 

... Attentive to them...?

 

Jihoon makes his own heart attack intensify. This is his _second_ crisis since this whole ‘meeting Hyungseob’ thing. He doesn’t know what’s going on anymore.

 

Woojin locks eyes with Jihoon and mouths, 'what'. Jihoon  _also_ looks at Hyungseob and mouths ' _what_ ', and Jihoon hopes he's conveying the five hundred ‘ _what's_ going through his head across to Hyungseob somewhat, because Jihoon was absolutely not ready for whatever this news is. Jihoon stares at Woojin again.

Woojin removes one of his earphones. Jihoon would love to stare some more to further process this information, but he finds himself being pushed into the couch, a pillow pressed flat against his face.

 

“You’re being too _obvious_ ,” Hyungseob yell-whispers, hitting Jihoon with the pillow. “How is staring and blushing supposed to help?”

 

“I’m not blushing!”

 

“Yes, you are,” Hyungseob continues to smack him and Jihoon would laugh if Hyungseob didn’t probably feel highkey stressed. “Have you even looked in the mirror?”

 

“He’s probably blushing cause the closest mirror is your eyes,” Woojin explains from the other side of the room. Jihoon guffaws from behind the couch.

  
“ _Stop-_ ”

 

If you’d asked Jihoon three months ago, he would’ve been vehemently opposed. But now, Jihoon thinks, he’s definitely okay with saying yes.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

“So, like,” Jihoon takes a bite out of Woojin’s sandwich. “Woojin, do you want to date the two of us,” he says as nonchalantly as he can.

 

Woojin stops chugging Jihoon’s caramel coffee. Hyungseob chokes on his own hot chocolate.

 

Woojin gets a peculiar deer-in-headlights look, uncharacteristically Woojin-like. “Is this why you’ve both been texting me pick up lines every day?”

 

“I was wondering if you’d noticed. That was Hyungseob’s idea, by the way.” Jihoon grabs his coffee back from Woojin and gulps it down, kicking Hyungseob’s foot in desperation because his fake confidence is really starting to wear thin here. Hyungseob is still trying to recover from choking on his drink. He blinks _SOS_ at Jihoon. _Please bail us out_.

 

For once, Jihoon’s _not_ glad he’s slowly getting better at this ‘not immediately saying the stupid shit that pops into his head’ business, because his mind is an empty library right now. There’s only one thing left in there, and that is-

 

“Oka—,“

 

“Are you a cake, because I want a piece of you,” Jihoon blurts.

 

Woojin stops. Hyungseob takes a break from choking to bury his face in his arms, and Jihoon can see his shoulders shaking. Wow, even Hyungseob is betraying him? The world is against Jihoon. An imaginary tear slides down Jihoon’s cheek. Why.

 

“I’m about to say yes, but calm down there, Casanova.”

 

Oh.

 

 _Oh_.

 

Jihoon’s face might feel the hottest it’s ever been, but when Hyungseob audibly chuckles from his ball and Woojin steals the rest of Hyungseob’s hot chocolate, Jihoon decides that being like this with the both of them is still the absolute best.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts:  
> slicing a cheesecake  
> a tulip  
> draining a sink  
> :babycrisis:  
> ‘I loaf u’  
> someone wants a piece of cake
> 
> thanks poojcord fam
> 
> feel free to hmu @trknlten on twt (I mostly lurk though) or @flowerhoon on discord!!


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